AMES, Iowa - Martin Thuo likes to look for new, affordable and clean ways to put science and technology to work in the world.

His lab is dedicated to an idea called frugal innovation: "How do you do very high-level science or engineering with very little?" said Thuo, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Iowa State University and an associate of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. "How can you solve a problem with the least amount of resources?"

Image: MARTIN THUO HOLDS A VIAL OF THE LIQUID-METAL PARTICLES PRODUCED BY HIS RESEARCH GROUP. WORKING BEHIND HIM ARE, LEFT TO RIGHT, SIMGE CINAR, JIAHAO CHEN AND IAN TEVIS. http://www.eurekalert.org